Transport instruction management and distribution network

ABSTRACT

The invention proposes a network for managing orders (Oi) for carriage issued by user-clients (Ci) and carried out by carriers (Ti) which includes a central processing unit (UC) linked to the users (Ci) for the receipt and management of orders (Oi) for carriage and, in particular, the distribution of these orders to the various terminals (Bi), each one of which includes a peripheral processing unit (UP) linked to the central processing unit (UC) and means: 
     for identifying the carriers (Ti); 
     for exchange (14) of data between the terminal (Bi) and the approved carriers (Ti); 
     for displaying (16) orders (Oi) to be carried out; 
     for printing (18) and issuing, to a carrier (Ti), slips corresponding to orders to be carried out; these means (12, 14, 16, 18) being linked to the peripheral processing unit (UP). 
     Application, in particular, to the management of a messenger network.

This application is a 371 of PCT/FR96/00678 dated on May 03, 1996.

The invention relates, in particular, to a network for distributing andmanaging orders issued by user-clients and carried out by carriers.

Carrying out an order for carriage, for example an errand carried out bya messenger, requires the user-client to be able to place his order assimply and effectively as possible with a service provider who isresponsible for the order received being carried out satisfactorily.

To this end, the service provider must have at his disposal a fleet ofcarriers, for example messengers, with whom he can enter into contact inorder to communicate to them the technical data relating to the variouserrands to be carried out.

These data relate, in particular, to pickup and delivery addresses andtimes and also to the type of parcel or envelope to be carried.

In addition to these conventional technical operations of managing eachorder received, with a view to its being carried out by one of thefleet's carriers, the service provider must also manage the orders infinancial terms with a view to their being paid for by the clients andmanage the fleet members in financial terms with a view to its membersbeing paid for the orders they have carried out.

Most commonly, the service provider receives the orders to be carriedout, via the telecommunications network, for example via telephone orvia fax, which originate from user-clients.

In order to ensure the smooth running and satisfactory economicmanagement of his company and, in particular, to avoid non-payment inthe future, user-clients must have been previously identified andregistered by the service provider as clients authorized to transmitorders for carriage.

Receipt of a first order originating from a new client does nottherefore immediately give rise to the order being carried out becausethe service provider will wish to verify the identity and possibly thesolvent financial status of this new client, a delay such as this notbeing conducive to fulfilling a new client's immediate need.

When an order for carriage is received, originating from an authorizedand recognised client, the service provider must, on the basis of thepickup or collection and delivery addresses and timescales, determinewhich of the members of his fleet of carriers is capable of carrying outthis order with the desired efficiency and precision.

Currently, the orders received by the service provider are distributed"empirically" and this procedure relies, for its efficiency, on theservice provider's know-how and on the competence and integrity of themembers of the fleet with whom the service provider is generally incommunication by radio or by telephone.

In particular, when the service provider is in communication with amessenger, he actually has no way in which to monitor the geographicallocation of this messenger at the time when he is in contact with himand he is thus unable to verify "a priori" whether the messenger will becapable of making the collection on time.

In order to ensure that his services are as efficient as possible, theprovider will also wish to have at his disposal the largest possiblefleet of carriers, for example messengers.

It is thus desirable for the service provider to be able to call uponthe largest number possible of carriers while at the same time beingable to check the identity of each carrier (whether an individual or acompany), the type and suitability of their carriage equipment, and thefact that these carriers have complied with legal provisions,particularly provisions relating to labour law and carriage law.

Finally, economic and financial management, both with regard touser-clients and to the various carriers who are members of the fleet,requires the ability to automate the various verification, invoicing andpayment operations as far as possible, particularly by usingcomputerized means.

The object of the invention is to propose a design for a network, fordistributing and managing orders for carriage, which makes it possibleto solve the various problems just referred to.

To this end, the invention proposes a network which includes a centralprocessing unit linked to the users for the receipt of orders forcarriage to be carried out, the management of the orders received and,in particular, the distribution of these orders to the various terminalsdistributed geographically, each one of which is linked to the centralunit and/or to the users and each one of which includes a peripheralprocessing unit linked to the central unit and:

means for identifying approved carriers capable of carrying out theorders;

means for exchange of data between the terminal and the approvedcarriers;

means for displaying one or more orders for carriage to be carried out;

means for printing and issuing, to an approved carrier, slipscorresponding to orders for carriage to be carried out by this carrier;these means being linked to the peripheral processing unit.

According to other characteristics of the invention:

the identification means include a device for reading and/or writingdata on a contact-type integrated-circuit identification card, alsoknown as a smart card, held by each approved carrier;

the identification card includes data relating to the identity of theapproved carrier holding the card and data relating to the number oftimes of access to the terminals which the carrier has had and/or to anumber of orders which the carrier is still authorized to carry outunder the terms of a prior subscription payment made by the carrier tothe body managing the network;

the means for exchange of data include a keyboard enabling an identifiedapproved carrier to select at least one of the orders to be carried outwhich are displayed on the terminal and to command the issuing of a sliprelating to this order;

the means for exchange of data enable an approved carrier to communicatewith the central processing unit, particularly in order to issuemessages to the central processing unit and/or a user-client;

the display means include a screen for displaying the orders forcarriage to be carried out, particularly in chronological order ofreceipt of the orders by the peripheral processing unit, with, inparticular, for each order:

the pickup address and time;

the delivery address and time;

an indication of the nature of the carriage, particularly of a categoryof dimensions and/or of weight to which a parcel to be carried belongsor of a type of vehicle required for carriage;

each slip relating to an order for carriage to be carried out includesat least the following information:

the identity of the approved carrier who carries out the order forcarriage;

the identity of the user-client issuing the order;

the pickup address and time;

the delivery address and time;

an indication of the type of carriage;

an encoded representation of such information, particularly in the formof a bar code, with a view to facilitating processing of the informationby the body managing the network, after the order has been carried outby a carrier;

the identification card of an approved carrier includes data relating tothe type of carriage he is authorized to carry out;

the peripheral processing unit selects and displays the orders to becarried out which correspond to carriage for which the approved andidentified carrier is authorized;

each terminal includes means, which are visible from a distance, forbringing attention to the existence of at least one order for carriageto be carried out.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent on reading the following detailed description with regard towhich, for the purposes of comprehension, reference will be made to theappended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the design of a network in accordancewith the teachings of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the design of a terminal forming partof the network of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows, in dot-dash lines, a network or grid pattern 10 of ageographical area in which carriage operations are to be carried out.

In accordance with the teachings of the invention, the carriage to becarried out is managed by a service provider via a network consistingessentially of a central processing unit UC and of terminals Bidistributed geographically in the region of the network 10, for exampleat particular points of intersection between the various vertical andhorizontal lines (when looking at FIG. 1) of the network 10.

The central processing unit (UC) is a computerized processing unitlocated at the premises of the service provider managing the network andis permanently linked to the terminals Bi, for example bytelephone-communication lines Li.

The central processing unit (UC) is therefore permanently capable of atwo-way exchange of data with the various terminals Bi.

The central processing unit (UC) is capable of receiving orders forcarriage to be carried out, originating from user-clients Ci who areable to communicate directly with the central processing unit (UC), forexample via the telephone-communication network, or directly with one ofthe terminals Bi, and particularly with a terminal located close to theplace where a parcel, envelope or article to be carried is to becollected or picked up.

Each client Ci may belong to two principal client categories.

The first category comprises established clients who are identified bythe service provider who has at his disposal, in the central unit'smemory, all the data relating to these clients in the first category andwith regard to whom the service provider carries out an invoicingoperation with a view to subsequent payment for the carriage carried outon behalf of these clients.

The client may also belong to a second category of clients who are"unknown" to the service provider and who, for the first time, transmitto the service provider an order for carriage to be carried out, thissecond category also including clients who do not have sufficient ordersto be carried out to justify them being treated as subscribers, i.e. asclients belonging to the first category.

When a client belongs to this second category, he may access the networkonly by transmitting his order to the central processing unit (UC),which analyzes the order and directly indicates the price of carriage tohim. The client then immediately makes the relevant payment, for exampleby means of remote payment, this type of operation today being madeparticularly simple via, for example, the use of a "Minitel" terminal,which makes it possible to carry out a remote-payment operation using abank card.

Irrespective of the category to which the client Ci belongs, the orderhe has to be carried out conventionally comprises information relatingto the parcel-pickup address, the parcel-collection time, the deliveryaddress and also the desired delivery time for the parcel.

The client also transmits information relating to the type of parcel tobe carried, i.e. relating to its dimensions, its weight and/orsupplementary information in the case of articles requiring specialprecautions for their carriage.

When an order is received by the central processing unit (UC), thevarious programs and software process the information received from theclient and, after verification, the central unit transmits the order tobe carried out to whichever terminal Bi is closest to theparcel-collection point.

The central processing unit (UC) also receives orders placed by clientswho paid a subscription fee for access to a nearby terminal.

With reference to FIG. 2, a description will now be given of adiagrammatic, illustrative embodiment of a terminal Bi.

Each terminal Bi includes a peripheral processing unit (UP) which ispermanently linked to the central processing unit (UC) via a line Li.

Each peripheral processing unit (UP) is also linked to thetelecommunications network so that it can receive orders for carriage tobe carried out directly from subscriber-clients belonging to the firstcategory.

The terminal Bi includes means for reading and/or writing data appearingon a contact-type integrated-circuit card, these means being showndiagrammatically in the form of a slot 12 for the insertion of such acard into a read/write device incorporated in the terminal and linked tothe peripheral processing unit (UP).

The terminal Bi includes a keyboard 14, a display screen 16 and aprinter 18, all these components being linked to the peripheralprocessing unit (UP).

FIG. 2 also shows, diagrammatically, a warning light 20, which isvisible from a distance, on the top of the terminal Bi, as well as aslot 22 for the insertion of a bank card into the terminal.

The carriage-service provider managing the network has at his disposal afleet of carriers Ti for carrying out the orders received from theclients Ci.

Each carrier Ti is, in accordance with the teachings of the invention,an identified carrier approved for access to the network.

To this end, the carrier is provided with access to the network by beinggiven, by the service provider, a contact-type integrated circuit card(not shown in the figures) on which various information and data capableof being processed by the network are stored.

Such information relates firstly to the identity of the approvedcarrier.

The card is actually issued to the carrier only after he has beenapproved by the service provider, the latter, in particular, having beenable to verify the fact that the carrier requesting membership of thenetwork fulfils the various legal and tax provisions relating to hiscorporate status, his professional insurance policies, the suitabilityof his vehicle, etc.

When all the above conditions have been fulfilled, the member-carrier Tipays a fee for access to the network, in exchange for which theidentification and access card is issued to him.

The identification and access card includes, in its memory, anindication of a number "n" of orders which the approved carrier willthen be authorized to carry out as part of the network, his number oforders diminishing as the carrier uses his card.

It is also possible to enable the card to store the number of timesaccess is gained to the network's terminals, it being possible for eachinstance of access to give rise to the approved carrier Ti taking chargeof one or more orders to be carried out from the terminal in question.

Issue of the card storing the limited number of times the network ororders may be accessed is therefore subject to prior payment of therelevant subscription fee by the carrier in question.

When a card's allowance has been used up, i.e. when this card no longerstores any rights of access to orders managed by the network, thecarrier must purchase a new card from the service provider or has, forexample, the opportunity of "reloading" his card directly form aterminal by inserting it into the slot 12 while also inserting a bankpayment card into the slot 22 and then making a transaction request tothe central unit UC via the keyboard 14 which is linked to theperipheral unit UP which is itself linked to the central unit UC. Cardreload may also be paid for by automatic deduction of the relevantamount from the carrier's supplier account held by the network manager.

The screen 16 makes it possible to display various questions andcomments relating to this transaction.

Depending on the type of vehicle or vehicles at the disposal of anapproved carrier Ti, enabling him only to offer carriage in certaincategories, this carrier's identification and subscription card mayinclude information relating to the type of carriage he is able to carryout, information which will, at the time of each connection with aterminal, be processed by the network in order to restrict the carrier'saccess only to orders for carriage which he will technically be able tocarry out.

A description will now be given of the way in which the network operatesand, in particular, of the complete processing of an order for carriage.

The orders for carriage received by the network are, as mentioned above,received directly by the central unit (UC) or by the terminals Bi.

Processing and geographical distribution, by the central unit UC, of theorders to be carried out gives rise to the transmission, via the linesLi, of orders Oi distributed to the various terminals Bi.

Therefore, the peripheral processing unit UP of a terminal Bi receivesorders Oi to be carried out which it stores and can display on itsscreen 16 at the request of an approved carrier.

Display takes place, for example, according to the chronological orderof receipt of the orders Oi by a terminal Bi.

As may be seen in FIG. 1, the terminal B2 therefore stores, for example,orders 01, 08 and 012.

When a terminal Bi has orders to be carried out in stock, the warninglight 20 is, for example, lit up to alert approved carriers close to theterminal Bi to the presence of such orders to be carried out.

The first carrier to present himself in front of. the terminal Biinserts his identification card into the slot 12.

After his identity has been recognised by the peripheral unit UP whichis linked to the central unit UC, the carrier is able, via the screen16, to access the list of orders to be carried out corresponding to thecarriage categories for which he is authorized.

On the basis of the list displayed on the screen 16 and by means of thekeyboard 14, the carrier selects one or more orders which he has decidedto carry out.

For each order selected and validated by the carrier, the terminal Biissues him, via the printer 18, with a carriage-order slip whichincludes all the technical data relating to carriage mentioned above, aswell as an encoded version of such information and data, for example inthe form of a bar code. A different slip is printed and issued for eachorder selected.

When the operations of selecting orders and issuing slips have beencompleted, the carrier removes his identification card whose quota "n"has been reduced in accordance with the network's management principle.

The carrier leaves the terminal in order to carry out the orders he hasselected and for each of which he has a slip.

Several copies, preferably four copies, of each slip are issued andprinted.

Conventionally, for each order, the carrier takes delivery of the parcelor of the goods to be carried at the collection address, at the premisesof the client who has placed the order or at the premises of acollection client to whom he gives a first copy of the slip indicatingthe actual pickup time, and then he carries and delivers the parcel orgoods to a delivery client to whom he gives a second copy of the slipafter having indicated the actual delivery time.

Once the errand has been carried out, the messenger retains two copiesof the slip.

A third copy is intended for sending back or transmitting, by post or bydata-transmission means, to the service provider managing the network sothat the latter subsequently pays the carrier for the errands carriedout, it being possible for the fourth copy of the slip to be retained bythe carrier for subsequent accounts verifications.

On the basis of the carriage slips returned to him, the service providercan automatically and by computer, and also in a highly simplifiedmanner by reading the bar codes, process the various operations, foraccounts purposes, with a view, in particular, to obtaining payment fromclients and making payments to the various members of his carrier fleet.

When a client transmits his order directly to the central unit UC, thelatter's management of his order, particularly with a view to selectingthe nearest terminal or a terminal which is further away but "lessladen" with orders, takes place without this processing being referredto the client, so as to carry out his order as efficiently as possible.

When a client places his order directly at a terminal, in the eventthat, for example, the client C4 places his order at the terminal B4 inFIG. 1, the central unit UC to which the peripheral unit of the terminalB4 is linked may, after processing and analysis, decide to distributethe order to another terminal depending on how loaded the terminal B4 isor depending on the actual pickup address, which may be located nearerto another terminal.

Generally speaking, when a terminal is loaded with orders to be carriedout and the central unit detects this fact, the management softwareredistributes certain orders to other terminals in the network so thatorders can be taken on by carriers more quickly.

The design of the network also makes it possible to process orders whichhave been received but whose pickup addresses are too far from one ofthe network's terminals, it being possible for the central unit then toplace the orders received directly with approved carriers located closeto the pickup addresses.

The central unit also monitors the smooth running of the terminals and,in particular, the status of the printers, and it can triggermaintenance operations with a view, in particular, to reloading aterminal with blank slips.

The various methods of creating links and of communicating between theterminals Bi and the central unit UC, and also between the clients andsuch elements, are not limited to those which have been described.

I claim:
 1. A network for distributing and managing orders (Oi) for carriage issued by user-clients (Ci) and carried out by carriers (Ti) comprising: a central processing unit (UC) linked to the users (Ci) for receiving orders (Oi) for carriage to be carried out, managing orders received and, distributing orders to various terminals (Bi) distributed geographically, each one of said various terminals being linked (Li) to the central processing unit (UC) or to the users (Ci) and comprising:a peripheral processing unit (UP) linked to the central unit (UC); means for identifying approved carriers (Ti) capable of carrying out the orders (Oi); means (14) for exchange of data between the terminal (Bi) and the approved carriers (Ti); means (16) for displaying one or more orders (Oi) for carriage to be carried out; and, means (18) for printing and issuing, to an approved carrier (Ti), slips corresponding to orders for carriage to be carried out by this carrier; wherein said means for identifying, said means for exchange, said means for displaying and said means for printing and issuing are linked to the peripheral processing unit (UP).
 2. The network as claimed in claim 1, wherein the identification means include a device (12) for reading or writing data on a contact-type integrated-circuit identification card held by each approved carrier (Ti).
 3. The network of claim 1, wherein each terminal (Bi) includes means (20), which are visible from a distance, for bringing attention to the existence of at last one order for carriage to be carried out from this terminal.
 4. The network of claim 1, wherein the means for exchange of data include a keyboard (14) enabling an identified approved carrier to select at least one of the orders to be carried out which are displayed on the terminal (Bi) and to command the issuing of a slip relating to this order.
 5. The network of claim 1, wherein the means for exchange of data enable an approved carrier to communicate with the central processing unit (UC), particularly in order to issue messages to the central processing unit or a user-client.
 6. The network of claim 1, wherein the display means (16) include a screen for displaying the orders for carriage to be carried out, particularly in chronological order of receipt of the orders received by the peripheral processing unit (UP), with, in particular, for each order:the pickup address and time; the delivery address and time; an indication of the nature of the carriage, particularly of a category of dimensions or of weight to which a parcel to be carried belongs or of a type of vehicle required for carriage.
 7. The network of claim 1, wherein each slip relating to an order for carriage to be carried out includes at least the following information:the identity of the approved carrier who carries out the order for carriage; the identity of the user-client issuing the order; the delivery address and time; an indication of the type of carriage; particularly in the form of a bar code, with a view to facilitating processing of the information by the body managing the network, after the order has been carried out by the carrier.
 8. The network of claim 6, wherein the identification of an approved carrier includes data relating to the type of carriage he is authorized to carry out.
 9. The network of claim 8, wherein the peripheral processing unit is adapted to select and display orders to be carried out which correspond to carriage for which the approved and identified carrier is authorized.
 10. A system for distributing and managing orders for carriage issued by clients and carried out by carriers, said system comprising a central processing unit linked to the clients for receiving said orders, managing said orders received, and distributing said orders received to at least one of a plurality of geographically distributed terminals, each of said plurality of terminals comprising:a peripheral processing unit linked to said central processing unit; means for identifying approved carriers selected from said carriers and each being capable of carrying out at least one of said orders received, said means for identifying comprising a device for reading data on a contact-type integrated-circuit identification card held by each approved carrier; means for exchanging data between the terminal and at least one of said approved carriers; means for displaying one or more orders received for carriage to be carried out; and, means for printing and issuing, to a select one of said approved carriers, slips corresponding to orders for carriage to be carried out by said select one approved carrier; wherein said means for identifying, said means for exchange, said means for displaying and said means for printing and issuing are linked to the peripheral processing unit; and, wherein each identification card includes data relating to the identity of the approved carrier holding the card and data relating to the number of times of access to the terminals which the carrier has had or to a number of orders which the carrier is still authorized to carry out under the terms of a prior subscription payment made by the carrier to the body managing the network. 